My Simple Financial Plan

We just got notice that our electricity will be going up again next week, they suck!

This is my wish list for this year.

Household:
1. Fridge
2. LED TV
3. Rug
4. Furnitures for the study - Desk, Chair & Filing Cabinet.

Personal:
1. IPod Touch
2. Kindle
Ohh, don't I wish...

This my spending plan for January:



This month we have our Car and House Insurance due.

According to our goals (sidebar) we also need to put away:

- #300 into Xmas/Anniversay Fund
- $300 into Holiday Fund
- and I'm hoping to be able to set aside $1,000 into the Household Fund.

This is our living expenses budget in 2010. I think this one is a better balance than last year. Although last year we had people living with us for over a month that we didn't account in our budget. I guess that is the disadvantage of having a yearly budget it is hard to predicted what will happen in the future. But then again that is why it is called a budget, it's only an estimate.



* Entertainment - we will give ourselves $30 per week to spend plus $20 a month for takeaway. I want keep the money we spend on takeaway as separate to see how much we actually spend on it.

* Allowances - DH will get $15 per week and I will get $10 per week.

* Personal/Medical - I have increased it because I need new glasses and contact lenses.

This is how we went with of $19K challenge.



So we went over our budget but we still did better than 2008. In 2008 overall we spent $19,890.73 ($500 better) for all our living expenses excluding mortgage.

Our 2010 challenge will be very similar to 2009. I will post that next.

These were our 2009 goals:

1.Save $1K p/m into Saving/Invest
TTD = $12,000 (100%) DONE Dec

2.Add $5K into the Household Fund (Jan-May).
TTD = $5,000 (100%)DONE Apr

3.Add $3K into the EF (May-Aug).
TTD = $3,000 (100%)DONE May

4.Add $4K into the Car Fund (Aug-Nov).
TTD = $4,000 (100%)DONE June

5.Put $1K into 2010 Xmas/Ann Fund in Dec.

6.Any extra (up to $1K) put into Holiday Fund (as a reward!).
TTD = $1410

I achieved all but 1 goal in 2009 but it was because I changed my mind about it. I've decided not to fund goal #5. Instead I am moving this goal to 2010. Because we needed to put as much money into our household fund that is why I didn't bother with putting money into the 2010 xmas/anniversary fund.

Anyway this is our 2010 Goals:

Goal 1: Save $1,200 into the Christmas/Anniversary Fund.

Action Plan: This goal will be achieve by saving $300 per month from Jan to April. This money will keep in one of my online saving account until needed.

Goal 2: Save $1,500 into the Holiday Fund.

Action Plan: Will also be adding $300 per month from Jan to May for this goal.

Goal 3: Save $10,000 into the Household Fund (this is mainly to be use for more house renovation).

Action Plan: For the first 5 months of the year we will put any extra money into this goal after goal 1 and 2 has been achieved every month.

Goal 4: Add another $2,000 into Baby Fund.

Action Plan: Put away $500 a month from June to September.

Goal 5: Add another $2,500 into the Car Fund

Action Plan: Put away $500 a month from June to October.

Goal 6: Save or Invest $10,000. This year most of this money will go towards prepaying the mortgage.

Action Plan: We will put any extra money towards this goal from June to December after goal 4 and 5 has been covered.

Other non-financial goals:
• Read at least 20 books.
• Do more stretching and more active activities, such as running, swimming, etc. Do this 2-3 times a week. I will keep track of this in my Wii Fit data.
• Keep caffeine and sugar consumptions low.


That's for my 2010 goals. I will write about our 19K challenge tomorrow

Really busy at the moment.

We are now officially over our 19K challenge and there are still 10 days to go to the year. I'm predicting that we will be over few houndred dollars. Even then we will still be better than last year's spending.

There are a lot to do before christmas, so hopefully after christmas I will have time to put my goals together.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

and we've only got $107 left in our 19K challenge (all bills has been taken out already). Half of it will probably be spent for fuel. Also we will probably need some groceries. And then we are planning to go out this weekend which would cost us around $40-60. And a possible new year's eve celebration, possible cost???

It is very likely that we will go over our $19K challenge/budget this year, but it won't be much. Lucky the christmas expenses will be taken out of the xmas fund .

Had our first NSD for the month. yeah!

I just recieved $1,500 from the government, it feels like an early christmas present. It got deposited straight to my retirement fund (superannuation). This is a program for people who earn less than $80K, depending on your income, if you put in $1000 (which is the maximum)for the year they will put in $1500 extra. Its free money so I'm happy.

The other day I updated my sidebar. Nothing else is happening here, which is good coz it means we are not spending money.

4 more weeks until the end of the year, I can't wait to finalise everything and to start tackling our new goals. Next year's main goals will be finishing the renovation (first half of the year) and then tackling the mortgage.

Just a quick update:

- Still looking at changing bank.
- Also researching for a new online broker, my current one is going out of business.
- Still doing a lot of stuff around the house. It's a never ending renovation.
- Christmas budget is still on track.
- Our 19K challange for the year is right on the wire. Some items are way over the budget. But I think overall we will just get there.

Things to do this weekend:
1. Finalise Nov numbers (DONE)
2. Open new bank account.
3. Clean clean clean the house.

I'm so sick of my bank, that I'm looking at changing it. I've been with this bank for half my life but now they are just driving me crazy. The fees even though not that much it adds up. Talking to them doesn't help so I guess the best way to resolve it is to change bank. It is going to be time consuming but I'm just not happy. Enough about that.

To my to do list. It's really hot at the moment so I won't be doing much today. I'm only looking at doing the cooking today.

Not much is happening here at the moment but we've had 4 NSDs in row and I'm hoping that today would make it 5 in a row. It must be the hot weather that we are not spending money

Was busy this weekend going through my budget and been trying to finalise my 2010 budget, still not done but it's getting there.

I also did some wall painting, will need to do some more.

Also I bought some more shares through a 1 on 1 entitlement offer. The money will be taken out from my Sunny day savings (see My Pages).

In the next few days I want to do:

1. more painting (Still going)
2. cooking to put in the freezer (currently cooking away)
3. find recipes to make for christmas (Found some but no final decision yet)
4. vacuuming and polishing the floor (I mopped the floor instead)
5. washing and ironing (Did a load and waiting for it to dry to iron)

I'm haven't here as much these days. I need to get back to it. Spending has been crazy lately and will need to pull it back to achieve our goals for this year. Only a month and a half to go and this is not the time to screw it up. I need to get focus again.

Things I need to do this weekend:
1. Update my financial spreadsheets (DONE)
2. Check online banking (DONE)
3. Make shopping list and menu plan (DONE)
4. Go grocery shopping (DONE)
5. Washing & Ironing (Done the washing not the ironing)
6. General cleaning (Did some)

I finalised my October numbers the other day and have already updated my sidebar. I so busy at the moment to write out a proper blog entry.

These were my October goals:
1. Grocery bill under $200, by sticking to the Menu Plan and by only buying what is in the Grocery List.
==Didn't quiet make it, we only have over $300 in the grocery budget for the rest of the year==

2. Entertainment exp no more than $100
==Failed!! ==

3. Living expenses under $1,100
==Almost but because of execess in #1 & #2 goals, it was a bit over.==

4. Spring Cleaning
==I was happy with my effort but there are a lot more to do around the house, so this going to be an going goal==

5. Blog more often to stay motivated.
==I blogged a lot last month, almost everyday, until I got too busy==

Hopefully I will have more time to blog again next week...bye for now.

The only thing that I must finish today is the IRONING (I hate doing the ironing!)...(DONE!!) I also managed to clean the toilet and fridge. The house is now mighty clean

DH couldn't get the car started yesterday afternoon, he was at work trying to get home. He had to get the roadside service assistant, which cost $280 but at least this means we are now a member for the next 12 months. Next year the membership should be a lot cheaper. The guy said that it there is something wrong with the fuel pump or something. He managed to get the car started to get home. Today he will need to take the car to the shop again, I didn't know that last week they didn't actually service the entire car, they only looked at the brakes and the radiator, not enough time. I guess our car is 10 years old now and we will probably be expecting more car repairs from now on. We really need to beef up the car fund sooner than later.

Things that I've done today and things that still need to do:

1. 2 load of washing (DONE)
2. Vacuuming (DONE)
3. Swiping the garage floor (DONE)
4. Empty out the dishwasher (DONE)
5. Ironing
6. Cooking (DONE)
7. Scrub the shower (DONE)

Didn't quite finish my to do list yesterday, we got distracted. It was such a beautiful day yesterday, that we decided to go out instead. We went for a walk around a park near the city and also drove to the beach for more walk. All up I think we did about 5km walk.





The tallest building in the background is called the Eureka Tower and it is the tallest building in Australia.

Today we've painted the waterproofing stuff (2 coats)on the floor, it will need 48hrs before we can do anything else to it.

Today I've also done the following:
- Shopping
- Cleaned up the dining table
- Cleaned the kitchen
- Cleaned the lounge room
- Cleaned the family room

Yet to do today:
1. Cooking (DONE)
2. Ironing (half done)

I couldn't log on here for the last couple of days. It wouldn't sign me in at all. Anyway, the last two days I just been working a lot, I haven't done anything around the house (I can't remember what I've done now, I just did whatever needed to be done around - nothing much). So, today (Sat, 24 Oct)I intend to do a lot of work around the house.

1. A load of washing (DONE)
2. Dusting (DONE)
3. Moping
4. Waterproofing a floor
5. Water the plants (DONE - DH did it)

I got one main thing to do tonight and that is to finish my painting job. Also

1. Need to cook dinner (DONE)
2. Clean up the kitchen (DONE)

That's it.

Today is a NSD...yipee.(hmmm...I prematurely celebrated)

Painting (DONE)

NSD was actually spoilt by DH. He came home early today with vanilla essence. He decided to make a carrot cake. The last time he made a cake he finished the vanilla essence, so he had to get one today. But for some reason it was only worth 80cents. It is normally around $3.80 and according to DH that was the price that it actually showed on the shelf. DH thought he misheard the lady and actually gave her $4, but he was given $3.20 change. So, I guess I'm not really that upset about him spoiling the NSD coz it was a steal.

Probably should also mention that it was really DH that did most of the cleaning in the kitchen after he made the cake.

Right now DH is picking up the car from the shop. We got it serviced today, the main thing they did to it was changed the front brake. All up it should cost around $500. DH told me they apparently found 3 holes in the radiator and this will cost around $1,000 to replace but it can't be done today. We will need to bring it in again some other time. This will all come out of the car fund.

Tonight I will try to get the following done:

1. Wash bath mats and other rugs (DONE)
2. Cook dinner (DONE)
3. Do some more painting (DONE)
4. Tidy up one of spare room (DONE)


Good news, the car repair wasn't as much as they first quoted. It was only $360.80 in the end.

We actually end up getting the milk yesterday, while we were out getting some stuff at the hardware store.

Today I intend to do the following:

1. A load of washing (bed sheets) - already on (DONE)
2. Painting a final coat onto the door frames (DONE)
3. I've also decided to paint other stuff - a window frame and some other timber boards that I been meaning to paint (half-way)
4. Ironing (DONE)
5. Vacuuming - if I have enough energy to do this (DONE)
6. Cooking Dinner (DONE)

Damn, I should just go to work today then I won't have to work so hard!

It's Sunday here, and it has been a lazy Sunday so far. Got up late and just been chatting online all morning. Still recovering from yesterday, we went for a drive to nice winery yesterday afternoon. This winery is surrounded with reserve wildlifes and wetlands. We had lunch at the cafe and then took a 2 hour walk around the property. It was very nice.
I will put photos later.

Things to do today:
1. Change beddings (DONE)
2. Finish painting door frame (Done but I think it needs a 3rd coat, I will reasses when it is dry)

Some photos from our day trip yesterday:



Bridge


Wild Ducks


Grape Vines

I didn't get anything done at all yesterday, not even the dishes! We went out for dinner after work yesterday and didn't get home until 9:30pm. I watch a bit of tv and actually felt asleep on the couch. When I woke up it was already after mid-night, too late to do the dishes.

I just got up, today I got a bit of cleaning up to do:

1. Wash dishes and clean the kitchen sink (DONE)
2. Do a load of washing (DONE)
3. Change beddings (DONE)
4. Update my financial spreadsheets Oops this is DONE)
5. Might also do some shopping - not crucial but we are running out of milk (not this one - DH will get this after work tomorrow). Decided to get this while we were out at the hardware store.

Didn't finish everything I set out to do yesterday.

Today I've done some online banking, so it was a spendy day. Just realised we had 4 NSDs in a row before today.

Things to do tonight:
1. Cook (DONE)
2. Clean the microwave (DONE)
3. Clean the Stovetop spotless (DONE)

I actually managed to finish all my to do list yesterday.

I got up this morning thinking about Christmas. I am pretty much done with my christmas shopping, except with a couple of things. I know what to get, I just can't get them yet because they will have a used by date. I don't want to get them too early. So today I want to:

1. Gift wrap at least half of the christmas gifts (DONE)
2. Dusting (DONE)
3. Polishing the furnitures (DONE)
4. Maybe spend 1/2 hour in the garden, if the weather gets better (Weather was horrible but I did water some plants that don't get rain on)
5. Sand and Paint 2 door frames (Need second coat)
6. Check online banking (DONE)

After cleaning the bathrooms the other day my back got really sore. I didn't get much done after that. And I pretty much just rested my back yesterday.

So far today, I've done some tidy up in the garage. Today I still need to:

1. finish the ironing (DONE)
2. patching up a small wall, above the sink. It will need light sanding and painting (DONE)
3. really need to do the vacuuming today (DONE)
4. shampoo one of the rug (DONE)
5. update my personal finance spreadsheets (DONE)

Friday I did absolutely nothing but went to work. I went to bed really early, I've been really tired lately.

Yesterday we did the grocery shopping and we also went to check out some new fridges, we are looking at getting a new one soonish. We were just trying to get an idea on what is out there, we probably won't get one for another year but it's good to start looking into it.

These are the things I've done so far this weekend apart from shopping:

1. 2 loads of laundry.
2. A lot of cooking - I think half of my cooking for the coming week is already done.
3. Cleaned the kitchen benches.
4. Watered the garden.

I'm aiming to still do the following today:
1. Ironing (Half-way through)
2. Clean the bathrooms (DONE)
3. Do some cleaning in the garage.
4. Vaccuming
5. Mopping the kitchen floor (DONE)

--------------------------------

Stock Talk:

It's company reporting season at the moment here, which means dividends are being paid. I think all up I got about $300 worth of dividends, and DH got more than $500. A lot of it has been reinvested via DRP or will soon be used to buy more shares.

Our stock market is still going up. Our economy have now recovered, they even increased our interest rate by 25 basis points few days ago, which means our mortgage payments will start to go up again (I've always known that the low rate will not last that long, it was nice though but I've always made sure that we didn't get used to it). The recent employment numbers were a lot better than expected too. People here are seeing a lot of positives in our economy which is being reflected in the stock market. DH and I already got our plans set up for when this opportunity were to come up.

I haven't done anything but work, it has been really busy. Been coming home late and just dog tired. I can't wait for the weekend to come. I've got a lot of things to do. Financial wise, I need:

1. to get my tax organise (DOne some)
2. do some research on my current stocks (read all the company reports that have accumulated on my desk)- (So boring)
3. to pay bills (DONE)
4. to check Bank accounts (DONE)

I got the day off today, so I'm planning to do a lot around the hourse today.

1. Do a load of washing (DONE)
2. Cook stew for dinner and some for the freezer (DONE)
3. Vaccuming (DONE)
4. Clean Dining table (DONE)
5. Filing (DONE)
6. Organise DH's suits and winter coats so it can be taken to the dry cleaners sometime this week. (DONE)
7. Dusting (DONE)

I was also going to water the garden but it rained this morning so that's one thing I don't have to do today.